Thursday, June 11, 2015

Bonus Champions Material: Mechassassin vs Deathstroke!

Back when I wrote up Mechassassin, I compared him to DC's Deathstroke the Terminator. Now that I'm done with the Classic Enemies read-through, I figured I'd finally compare the two in the only way that matters: their individual writeups. First up, let's refresh:

Mechassassin is Craig Vandersnoot, once a rising star in the US Army. Unfortunately, his extracurricular activities acting on behalf of organized crime groups came to light. When he was drummed out of the service, KRONOS, a high-tech criminal enterprise, provided him with a high-tech battlesuit, which he conveniently escaped with when UNTIL raided them.

Since then, he's set himself up as a freelance bodyguard and assassin. He particularly likes taking down superheroes, in order to prove his superiority. He's a jerk.

Deathstroke the Terminator is Slade Wilson. Like Mechassassin, he started off in the military, but his origin is due to biomedical experimentation. The mutations caused by the experiments granted him genius-level intellect, and augmented his already elite military skills with increased reflexes and senses. He's also responsible for one of my favorite comics arcs of all time: The Judas Contract.

So, how do they stack up? Here's the tale of the tape:

Mechassassin

STR35

DEX 27

CON 40

BODY 15

INT 18

EGO 15

PRE 30

COM 14

PD 8

ED 8

SPD 6

REC 10

END 40

STUN 50

Powers:

25 Points of
Martial Arts (Maneuver-Based)

+3 DC with
all attacks

Endurance
Reserve

Wrist
Slashers: 3d6 HKA +1 Stun Mult

Electric
Pistol: 10d6 AP EB (not vs Resistant Defense) (6 charges)

Steel
Cable:6d6 Entangle

Battlesuit:

12d6
Explosion (3 charges)

4½d6 NND (Gas
Attack) (2 charges)

Darkness 6”
radius vs sight, sound, mental senses (3 charges)

Armor +12 PD
and ED

Shield: Armor
+12 PD and ED, Act 14-

Life Support:
Self Contained

Hi-Range
Radio Hearing

Floodlight:
Change Environment, Radius

Amplifier:Change Environment, Radius

Skills:

Language: German (Fluent)

Science: Mechanical Engineering 12-

Security Systems 13-

Deathstroke

STR 25

DEX 30

CON 28

BODY 15

INT 30

EGO 14

PRE 25

COM 20

PD 15

ED 15

SPD 8

REC 12

END 56

STUN 50

Powers:

25 Points of Martial Arts (Strength-Based)

Sword: 3d6 HKA

Assault Rifle: 2d6 RKA, Selective Fire (20 charges)

Battle Stick: 4d6 RKA (1 charge)

Battle Stick: 7d6 EB (physical)

Frag Grenade: 5d6 RKA, Explosion (1 charge)

Smoke Grenade: 4” radius Darkness (1 charge)

Gas Grenade: 8d6 NND EB (1 charge)

Flash Grenade: 4d6 Flash (1 charge)

Armor: +12 PD and ED

Lack of Weakness

Ego Defense (11 pts)

Flash Defense (8 pts)

Swinging: 20”

Parabolic Hearing

Hi-Range Radio Hearing

Discriminatory Smell

Enhanced Vision

Enhanced Hearing

Skills:

Acrobatics 15-

Stealth 15-

Disguise 15-

Security Systems 15-

Climbing 14-

Detective Work 15-

Computer Programming 15-

Luck 2d6

+4 Overall Levels

It's worth noting that Deathstroke comes in at 630 points by Champions II/III standards (and I think he's a little underpowered). Mechassassin is 538, so he's already working from a deficit. He's stronger than Slade, and can probably hit him harder, but Deathstroke is faster and harder to hit. Deathstroke lacks Life Support, so Mechassassin's best bet would be to use his gas attack, except the best damage a 4½d6 NND can do is 27 Stun, which still comes in under Slade's CON, meaning he won't be stunned by it, allowing him to then put further hurt on Mr. Vandersnoot.

In short, it doesn't look good. I'm sure there are permutations where Mechassassin wins (and I'm sure dedicated Champions players will find them), but my money is on Deathstroke.